Life, 1915-08-05 · page 18 of 44
Life — August 5, 1915 — page 18: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**Top Cartoon:** "The First Member of the Back-to-the-Land Movement" depicts a dead whale washing ashore—satirizing the post-WWI "back-to-the-land" agricultural movement as futile or absurd. **Main Article:** Life criticizes the *Army and Navy Journal's* argument that winning WWI requires permanent militarism and large standing armies to control Germans. The magazine rebuts this by arguing wars result from leaders' ambitions, not peoples' desires—citing historical examples (Napoleon, kings, "cotton barons" causing the Civil War) to show ordinary citizens don't make aggressive wars. **Bottom Cartoon:** Shows an official at a desk dismissing someone's concerns about "German-American" citizens, proposing it be renamed "Germ-Unamerican"—reflecting anti-German sentiment and xenophobia during/after WWI, mocking both German-Americans and patriotic zealotry. **"Revised Versions" section:** Satirical aphorisms mocking militarism, hypocrisy, and pretension—likely targeting post-war attitudes. The page overall argues against permanent war preparation while acknowledging contemporary anti-German prejudice.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
THE FIRST MEMBER OF THE BACK-TO-THE-LAND MOVEMENT The War and Armament HE Army and Navy Journal joy- fully contemplates the continuance of military systems as they existed before the war, but “strengthened and expanded by the lessons learned from the conflict now raging.” ’at_means, presumably, more sol- diers and war preparation than ever. The Journal says that even if the Allies should “crush Germany” they couldn't kill all the German soldiers nor crush out the fighting spirit of the Germans, and while there were Germans left, even though Germany were partitioned, the victors would have to maintain big armies to keep them in order. But that would necessitate, the Journal thinks, “a stiffening of the very militarism which so many are proclaiming the Allies are in this war to abolish, Bless you, neighbor, it won't be necessary to kill or guard all the able- bodied Germans to make Europe si All that is necessary is to change their leadership. If the Prussian war- master control of the German mind can be broken the Germans will be no more dangerous than other people. A lot of soldiers don’t make a country militaristic. What does that is the con- trol of those soldiers and of the ap- paratus that produces and maintains them by minds that aspire to conquest. Did the people of any country ever make an aggressive war? No; people rebel, riot, organize for defense, get up expeditions when a war is on; but the makers of aggressive wars are poli- EN'T YOU ASHAMED TO BE SEEN NO, SAH. ticians. Who made the wars of Europe? The people of Europe? No. Kings, popes, barons and ministers of state. Williams, Edwards, Phillips, Henrys, Lewis Clements, Piuses, Richelieus, Mazarins and the like and Napoleon. Who made our Civil War? The Southern people? No. A handful of cotton barons. Armament will not perish off the EF 11's GOOD ENOUGH Fou You, earth along of this war, but if the war goes clear through to its end, avoid bet- ting to back the expectations of persons who look to see armament “ strength- ened and expanded.” The nations of Europe are not fighting for the privi- lege of increased armament for the next generation, though in this country it may very well be that military train- ing will increase and our present dest tution of defensive organization will be remedied. E move to amend German-Amer- ican to make it read Germ- Unamerican. HERE AGAIN? SAH, AIUS SATISFIED,” Revised Versions ANDSOME is that handsome is made up. Those who should always have the largest. siege- guns. Nothing fails like success. Necessity is the mother of pre- tension. live in glass houses comicbooks.com